to furbish up
- phrasal verb
- Archaic
- He managed to furbish up the antique desk, making it look almost new again.
Examples
-
They decided to furbish up their old cottage before inviting guests to stay.
-
The company spent thousands to furbish up the conference room.
-
She decided to furbish up the old furniture.
-
Can you furbish up that antique clock?
-
He managed to furbish up the antique desk, making it look almost new again.
-
The company spent thousands to furbish up the conference room.
-
They decided to furbish up their old cottage before inviting guests to stay.
Synonyms
338
1.0
To fix something that is broken or not working
80
3.8
To repair and improve a building or room so it looks new again
64
1.2
Fix something that is broken or torn
47
4.9
To change something to make it look or work better
46
3.2
To change the inside of a room by adding new paint, wallpaper, or furniture
40
3.4
Change parts of a room or building to make it look new
39
4.6
To check and fix or change something completely to make it work better
30
4.6
To make something clean and like new by fixing or decorating it
30
1.3
Paint something again to make it look new or different
29
4.1
To make a place or person look neat and smart
26
3.8
Make small changes to something to improve how it looks
25
3.8
To make yourself or a place look cleaner and nicer
11
3.2
To make a place or person more attractive by adding decorations like paint
10
3.0
Make a room look cleaner and nicer with small changes
10
6.1
Make furniture or floors look new by removing old paint and putting on new paint
7
3.7
To fix a building or object so it is usable again
6
2.5
Put paint on something to make it look better
5
5.8
To make something better in how it works or how it looks
3
7.2
Make a person or place look neater and nicer by cleaning and adding small things
2
3.9
To change the style of something, for example hair or clothes
2
5.4
To fix something so it works well again
1
7.5
Make a room or building better by fixing and changing it
1
5.0
Make something look more attractive, often only on the surface
1
6.7
To put new material on the surface of something so it looks new
1
9.2
To make something shiny by rubbing
1
3.3
Make a surface shine again by rubbing it
1
8.1
To make something more attractive by adding new parts
1
8.9
Make something like it was before or better
1
9.4
Make something look more expensive by adding nicer things
To make a house look new by painting, fixing and cleaning it
Antonyms
How Restored
261
3.5
80
3.8
30
4.6
- Archaic
- Informal
25
3.8
26
3.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The base verb 'furbish' means to polish or make shiny, and the particle 'up' adds a sense of improvement or completion; together they transparently yield the sense of restoring or renovating something to a better condition. This follows common English verb+up compositional patterns (e.g., 'spruce up', 'fix up') and would be clear to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
The verb furbish up comes from the image of polishing and fixing an old chair or desk until it looks bright and new. Furbish means to clean or polish and up adds the idea of making something better, so it now means 'to restore or improve'.